ORSM '12 New Exhibitors Recap: Terox International
SNEWS highlights some new exhibitors that attended the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2012 trade show. Check out Terox International’s story and visit their website for more information about its products.
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Terox International
www.terox.com / Rocco Azzarito, CEO / Boise, Id. / Founded 2010
Rocco Azzarito on Terox International: “With affordable lifestyle footwear in mind, the Terox brand was born. Its product line features flip-flops and slides in an amazing array of colors with an anatomical design made from a lightweight, elastic, resilient polymer compound that retail at $39.95 a pair. Interestingly, though, the true heritage and inspiration of the company dates back over a century to my grandfather Francisco Azzarito, who was born in the small southern Italian town of Foggia. Francisco Azzarito was born the son of a cobbler and he had followed his father’s trade. He yearned though to build more fashionable shoes and came to America to pursue his dream to make shoes in the USA. In the spirit of my grandfather we made a decision not to go the easy route and made the necessary investment to bring our production to America.”
Tell us about your brands and products:
This is our only brand being offered at this time but we are working on expanding our line by offering canvas “Beach” shoes by the Spring of 2014. We are now working on finding the partners to keep that production in the U.S. as well.
What were you, as the founder of the company, doing before this?
I was the acting CEO of the Novascarpa Group from 2008 to 2011 distributing RYN and JOYA footwear in the U.S.
Where did your inspiration come from?
My grandfather, who came to America in 1920.
What’s the one best feature of your product?
It is the first injection-molded shoe of its kind to be produced in the USA.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Getting the infrastructure for production set up to produce this kind of footwear in the U.S.
Why did you exhibit at Outdoor Retailer?
To introduce Terox to the world and get people excited about American-made footwear.
Who do you look up to in the industry?
Crocs. They took such a simple product and turned it into an empire in a very short amount of time.
Who do you want to compete against in the industry?
Crocs, Reef, Sanuk, Nike, etc.
